Now that the band who dresses up with surgeon masks are back, two things are still prevalent with the men known as Clinic: 1. Their style of psyche rock is back and better than ever, and 2. If you’ve made an appointment with them to have surgery done, boy are you going to be disappointed!
On their fourth studio album, the boys from Liverpool, England have stepped things up a little to make one of their edgiest albums to date. From the first song “Family” to the last bonus track “The Cape,” their fuzzed out guitars, keyboard, and other odd instrument usages go a long way in creating this highly danceable album equal parts future to equal parts past. Their 60s psyche influence is highly visible on most tracks but it’s the slower ones that catch the eye. “Children of Kellogg” and “Jigsaw Man” both seem to evoke something new from the band, Middle Eastern and folk influences, which not surprisingly fit right in to their experimental approach to rock.
“Visitations” as a whole feels more complete than previous albums in the sense that the album starts, ends and tells a story in the middle instead of being filled with varying degrees of experimentation that don’t go anywhere. With or without a doctor’s appointment, Clinic delivers a stronger album than “Winchester Cathedral” while developing their signature sound. |